World News Roundup: Why the CIA doesn't spy on the UAE; Erdogan says Turkish troops will enter planned Syria safe zone 'soon'

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Trump leaves Iran diplomacy door open after Macron's Zarif gambit

U.S. President Donald Trump appeared to leave a window open for diplomacy with Iran on Monday after French President Emmanuel Macron flew in Iran's foreign minister to a G7 summit in an effort to reduce U.S.-Iranian tensions. European leaders have struggled to calm the deepening confrontation between Iran and the United States since Trump pulled Washington out of Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and reimposed sanctions on the Iranian economy.

Trump moves to ease tensions over China, Iran as G7 summit wraps up

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday offered an olive branch to China after days of intense feuding over trade and opened the door to diplomacy on Iran, easing tension on the last day of a strained G7 summit. The leaders of the world's major industrialized nations, meeting in the French coastal resort of Biarritz, look set to reach an agreement on how to help fight the Amazon forest fires and try to repair the devastation.

Rejection of international law on the rise, Iran's foreign minister says

The rejection of international law is on the rise, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Monday, during a meeting in Beijing with the Chinese government's top diplomat, State Councillor Wang Yi. "Rejection of international law, not just lack of respect for international law, but, in fact, contempt for international law, is on the rise and we need to work together," Zarif told Wang, in comments in front of reporters.

Why the CIA doesn't spy on the UAE

The United Arab Emirates finances the military leader trying to topple a United Nations-recognized government in Libya. It helps lead a coalition of nations imposing an economic blockade of Qatar, despite U.S. calls to resolve the dispute. It hired former staffers of the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) as elite hackers to spy in a program that included Americans as surveillance targets, a Reuters investigation https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-spying-raven found this year. And yet, in a highly unusual practice, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) does not spy on the UAE's government, three former CIA officials familiar with the matter told Reuters, creating what some critics call a dangerous blind spot in U.S. intelligence.

Saudi-led coalition acts to stabilize south Yemen as allies face off

The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen acted on Monday to work out a ceasefire with its nominal allies in the south of the country who turned on each other in a power struggle, fracturing the military alliance. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the main powers in Yemen's Sunni Muslim coalition, have formed a joint committee to oversee a truce between UAE-backed southern separatists and Saudi-backed government forces in the provinces of Abyan and Shabwa, a joint statement carried on state media said.

Erdogan says Turkish troops will enter planned Syria safe zone 'soon'

Turkish ground troops will enter a planned safe zone in northern Syria "very soon," President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday after a joint operation center with the United States opened at the weekend. Turkey and the United States agreed earlier this month to set up the joint center for the planned safe zone along Syria's northeastern border but gave few details on the size of the zone or the command structure of the forces to operate there.

Hong Kong government warns of great danger after weekend of violence

Illegal violence is pushing Hong Kong to the brink of great danger, the city government said on Monday, after a weekend of clashes that included the first gun-shot and the arrest of 86 people, the youngest just 12. Police fired water cannon and volleys of tear gas in running battles with protesters who threw bricks and petrol bombs on Sunday, the second day of weekend clashes in the Chinese-ruled city.

Italy's PD says it, 5-Star must listen to each other quickly

Italy's main opposition Democratic Party (PD) and the 5-Star Movement must try to understand each other's points of view quickly, PD leader Nicola Zingaretti said on Monday as a deadline nears for the parties to agree with a deal to avoid early elections. President Sergio Mattarella gave PD and anti-establishment 5-Star until Tuesday to make progress over forming a new government after the previous coalition comprising 5-Star and the far-right League collapsed last week.

Zimbabwe bails senior opposition official arrested over protest

A Zimbabwean court freed a senior opposition official on bail on Monday, after charging him with failing to stop an anti-government protest that authorities had banned. Amos Chibaya, national organizing secretary for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), was an organizer of a street demonstration the party convened in Harare on Aug. 16 to launch a national protest movement.

Iran says it has sold oil from tanker released by Gibraltar

Iran has sold the oil from a tanker released by Gibraltar after weeks in the custody of British Royal Marines and the vessel's owner will decide on its next destination, IRIB news agency quoted an Iranian government spokesman as saying on Monday. Separately, Tehran - embroiled in a spiraling confrontation with Washington over U.S. sanctions meant to strangle Iranian oil exports - announced that it had deployed a naval destroyer with cruise missiles to help secure Iranian ships.